Vachon started his career as an amateur wrestler, participating in the 1948 Summer Olympics and winning a gold medal at the 1950 British Empire Games.

[5] As a child, he regularly attended wrestling shows at the nearby Montreal Forum, where he grew up idolizing local ring legend Yvon Robert; and at just 12 years old, he had already begun grappling at the area's YMCA.

He soon encountered a roadblock when powerful Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn hesitated to use him for fear that he would dethrone Yvon Robert, who was still his top draw.

As a result, he soon took radical measures to differentiate his persona, bulking up to a more plausible 225 pounds while also shaving his head bald and growing a long goatee.

[4] In addition, Vachon would frequently buy local TV time prior to a weekend event, which he then used to boldly proclaim his supremacy while also deprecating his opponent.

Such acts of bravado were considered revolutionary at the time, though it was successful in that it attracted attention to Vachon's new character as well as drawing additional fans to the arena.

As a result, Vachon subsequently established himself as a major heel while also portraying a wrestling beast inside the ring who would freely stomp, bite, and pound his opponent into submission.

Vachon's tendency to hurt his opponents with foreign objects, filed fingernails and teeth, and the multiple use of his signature finishing move, the piledriver, to end matches made him notorious in the business and caused him to be banned in three U.S. states.

In the early 1960s, Mad Dog Vachon was then recruited to the Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association by his old Olympics acquaintance, Verne Gagne, who had replaced Tony Stecher as the region's chief promoter in 1960 and who also served as its centerpiece champion.

Upon debuting, Vachon immediately established himself among the promotion's top box-office draws as fans despised his vicious, mauling tactics; and he thus made the perfect opponent for the All-American Gagne, as the two rivals soon commenced an ongoing battle that would persist on for nearly 20 years.

Between 1964 and 1967, Mad Dog Vachon would ultimately hold five reigns as the AWA World champion while taking on all comers within the promotion's massive territory, including Gagne, Mighty Igor Vodic, as well as the legendary powerhouse duo of Crusher Lisowski and Dick the Bruiser.

On August 30, 1969, the Vachons defeated Crusher and Bruiser for the AWA World Tag Team Titles; and the following year, the two battled again in a famous steel cage match at Chicago's Comiskey Park (where the Vachons again emerged victorious), as their violent fights ultimately served as the precursor for a new brand of sadistic and vicious brawling that would spawn future stars like Abdullah the Butcher, Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, and others.

"[4] The Vachon family became prominent in the AWA with sister Vivian dominating the women's scene, while Maurice and Paul ruled the men's division.

After two decades as one of wrestling's most evil characters, the fans began to rally behind the "Mad Dog" in the late 1970s when he formed an unexpected and odd friendship with ex-rival Verne Gagne.

[4] When the AWA began looking to younger stars like Rick Martel and Curt Hennig, Vachon jumped to the World Wrestling Federation in 1983.

While his age and lack of size did not make for a good mix in the emerging "Hulkamania" era, the now-face Vachon was usually included at WWF house shows in the Midwest and Quebec.

He wrestled for the WWF in Canada regularly until 1986, and contributed to its French programming schedule with a weekly interview segment titled Le Brunch a Mad Dog.

[10][11] Vachon received a retirement show in his native Montreal in September 1986, and he left the sport as one its most beloved babyfaces after spending almost his entire career as a sadistic heel.

It was later revealed that he had been struck by a developmentally disabled male driving the country roads looking for cans to recycle while Vachon was out for a morning jog.